Wednesday, January 27, 2016

In metalworking,
rolling is a metal forming process in which metal stock is passed through one
or more pairs of rolls to reduce the thickness and to make the thickness
uniform. The concept is similar to the rolling of dough. …. .. … in Marine Hull insurance, there is coverage from cradle
to grave – ship (boat) building is covered from the laying of keel, to … the
final [funeral] voyage and at last breaking up !!

There was a time
when Indian two-wheeler segment was all about
: Lambretta (Lamby) Vijay, Bajaj scooters – Jawa (Yezdi), Bullet,
Rajdoot - then entered 100cc bikes –
touting fuel consumption as USP. The big name was ‘Hamara Bajaj” – from the
studs of Bajaj Auto having its factory in Akurdi, Pune; Aurangabad and
Uttaranchal. Amidst
its various brands was “ Chetak ” named after the legendary horse of Raja Rana
Pratap Singh. It was launched in
1972 and ruled the market for decades.
People used to wait for years after booking, vehicles were sold at a
premium, some said they got it by paying in foreign currency which was
extremely scarce those days. There were
stories of it being unavoidable dowry in the mid 70s and early 80s. A very sturdy simple one – those days in Bajaj
vehicles, the engine was mounted on one
side and hence those owners touted that others would find it difficult to
ride. I remember taking delivery of
Bajaj Chetak after paying Rs.16200/- [all inclusive on road on Jan 1990] – and was so elated in owning it.

Alang is a small town in
Bhavnagar district in Gujarat….it is on the coast and is known Worldwide for
its yards, not exceptionally state of art, mostly manual ….yet something
associated with big work ! ~ it is on the Gulf of Khambat, (formerly known as the Gulf
of Cambay), an inlet of the Arabian Sea that
divides the Kathiawar peninsula.
I had sometime posted on a vessel that served Indian Navy gloriously ~
one which was first ordered to be ‘HMS Hercules’ by the Royal Navy. She was laid down in Nov 1943 on the River Tyne; launched in Sept 1945
~ bought by India in 1957, modified and served the Indian Navy gloriously. It is the famous ‘INS Vikrant’ [another ship
– an aircraft carrier by the same was launched in 2013] …. Vikrant was
commissioned into the Indian Navy by then Indian High Commissioner to the
United Kingdom, Ms Vijayalakshmi Pandit in Mar 1961 in Belfast. The name
Vikrant was taken from Sanskrit vikrānta meaning "stepping beyond",
i.e. "courageous" or "bold". Captain Pritam Singh was the
first commanding officer of the carrier. I saw it once in Bombay docked near the Port –
those were not the days of smart phones – yet this photo I would cherish.

In the 1971 War
with Pakistan, Vikrant was stationed off the Andaman & Nicobar Islands
along with frigates, INS Brahmaputra and INS Beas; and was redeployed towards Chittagong. On the morning of 4 December 1971, Vikrant’s
eight Sea Hawk aircraft launched an air raid on Cox’s Bazar from 60 nautical
miles (110 km) offshore. On the evening of 4 December, the air group struck
Chittagong Harbour. The Pakistan Navy
deployed the submarine Ghazi to specifically target and sink Vikrant. However,
Ghazi sank off Visakhapatnam harbour, due to attacks by INS Rajput.

After
a distinguished service, she was decommissioned in January 1997; was preserved
as a museum ship in Cuffe Parade, Mumbai, until it was closed in 2012 due to
safety concerns. Then sadly, Vikrant was
sold through an online auction to an Alang ship-breaker, reportedly at a cost of Rs.60 crore. It was taken to Alang and was broken !
A sad fate that awaits most ships after
say 25 years. These vessels who have outlived their existence are sold and
dismantled to recover the valuable steel. A very major % of the vessel consists
of steel which can be rerolled besides valuable machinery such as generators,
marine engines etc., There are various other miscellaneous material as well.

Looking
to cash in on the patriotic fervour on Republic Day, Bajaj Motorcycles teased
its new bike Bajaj V,which
will reportedly be “forged from the invincible metal of the 1971 Indo-Pak war
hero INS Vikrant”. Striking a chord with millions of Indians on the 67th
Republic Day, Bajaj launched a spirited
video campaign with a few hints and flashes of the upcoming Bajaj V. “We at
Bajaj were determined to not allow history to fade away into oblivion. So we
took INS Vikrant’s metal, melted it and gave it a new face,” the voiceover
says, stirring patriotic feelings in the viewer.

From
the silhouette, the bike looks like a classic motorcycle with alloy wheels and
a short saddle, and a special INS Vikrant logo will be engraved on the tank.
Bajaj hopes national pride will push consumers to not miss the unique
opportunity to own a piece of Indian naval history. The news is that Bajaj Motorcycles will
launch Bajaj V on February 1, ahead of the Delhi Auto Expo 2016, alongside
three other bikes.